The North Face Apparel Corp. is suing a parody company called The South Butt and the teenager who started it.
The lawsuit filed last week in federal court in St. Louis seeks unspecified damages and asks the court to prohibit The South Butt from marketing and selling its parody product line.
The North Face says it does not comment on pending litigation.
The South Butt’s attorney, Albert Watkins, says the company was started by 18-year-old Jimmy Winkelmann to help pay for college. It puts out products with the tag line “Never Stop Relaxing,” a parody of The North Face line, “Never Stop Exploring.”
The South Butt described the forthcoming legal battle as a modern day David and Goliath encounter and has even come up with a cheeky Facebook application that challenges users to spot the difference between a face and a butt.
Watkins thinks it should be easy enough. “The South Butt has previously made it clear to the North Face that the consuming public is insightful enough to know the difference between a face and a butt,” he said.
Comments left on The South Butt blog expressed mixed feelings over the lawsuit.
“Hand ‘em their ass, Jimmy! Make some bank for the holidays and then make them settle out of court,” said a user named “Mr_T.”
A comment from “Will” was more pessimistic. “Your logo is just theirs upside down…It’s a clear case of trying to profit from their brand.”
(AFP WITH STAFF WRITER)
「樂斯菲斯」(直譯:北面)服飾公司對刻意模仿其名稱的「南臀」公司,以及成立該公司的青少年提出告訴。
聖路易聯邦法院上週受理這項訴訟,北面要求法院禁止南臀行銷及販售其刻意諧仿的生產線,並向其索取侵權賠償,賠償金額不明。
北面公司表示,在法院做出裁決前他們不便發表意見。
南臀公司的律師艾伯特.瓦特欽斯說,該公司是十八歲的吉米.溫凱爾曼為了籌措大學學費成立的。其產品標牌上寫著「永不停止放鬆」,諧仿北面公司的「永不停止冒險」。
南臀公司形容即將面對的這場法律訴訟,儼然是現代版的大衛對決歌利亞,社交網站「臉書」上甚至出現一個俏皮的應用程式,遊戲中網友必須辨認出臉和屁股的不同。
瓦特欽斯認為這應該是很簡單的一件事,他說:「南臀公司之前就已向北面公司澄清過,消費大眾的眼睛是雪亮的,他們分得出臉和屁股的不同。」
南臀公司的部落格上,網友留言表示對這個官司感到百感交集。
一位「T先生」留言說:「給他們好看,吉米!趁耶誕佳節大撈一筆,然後逼他們庭外和解。」
另一個網友「威爾」可就沒那麼樂觀了,他說:「你們的商標只是把他們的商標倒過來…這個案件很明顯是你想利用他們的品牌獲利。」 (法新社╱翻譯:袁星塵)
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